Are the Tories really on the side of Britain’s farmers?

It might seem hard to believe it was just a matter of months ago that senior Treasury advisor Tim Leunig made headlines when he suggested in leaked emails that Britain doesn’t need farmers. The ‘food sector isn’t critically important to the UK’, he wrote.

Then Covid-19 descended, and the British farming industry was deemed vital again. With supermarket shelves empty due to panic buyers, we were reminded how important it is that we are able produce at least a proportion of the food we need at home. The Prime Minister took to pointing out the strength of our ‘farm to fork’ supply chain that kept supermarkets stocked.

It’s strange, then, that as part of ‘getting Brexit done’, the current government are proposing a raft of ideas that will be far from helpful for British farmers. The Agriculture Bill has already caused its fair share of controversy. MP Neil Parish, chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, proposed an amendment which would have prevented any trade agreement from being ratified if it allowed the importation of food products produced to a lower standard than is allowed in the UK.